Vigilante
by Nigelcat1
Summary: Draco is quite pleased with himself because he has finally and totally destroyed Harry Potter. Basking in his success, Draco finds out the hard way that he has lost more than he could ever gain. Lives are ruined and it's all his fault. This is a very dark story.
1. Chapter 1 - The Prince

VILGILANTE

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 1 – The Prince

Draco Malfoy was a proud child. He was considered to be the "Slytherin Prince" if only by his parents and himself. In some respects he was as his Father was a wizard not to be trifled with due to his power, wealth, standing in the Magical British community and having the morals of the real Albus Dumbledore, namely none.

Whereas Dumbledore had a carefully publicized persona as the Leader of the Light and the benevolent grandfather figure he showed as Headmaster of Hogwarts, his enemies, his "allies" and certain of his minions knew better and the rest of the world (or at least in Britain) either sensibly turned a blind eye to his real agenda or followed him like the sheep they were.

However, everybody knew exactly what Lucius Malfoy was and just how far he was willing to go to obtain his goals. He did it the old fashioned way – by bribery, intimidation, slander and terrorizing all of those who would cross him. It was a time-honored recipe and had always worked for people of his ilk throughout the centuries and would continue on until the end of time in both the Magical and Muggle worlds.

Draco was the only son and heir that Lucius would ever have. He was lucky enough to finally get a healthy and magical son due to heredity, too much in-breeding and a few unfortunate curses which Lucius had so rightly deserved and received. The fault could not be put on his wife Narcissa (although he always would blame her) but on Lucius himself. He wasn't thrilled how Draco had turned out but…one had to work with what one had and hope for the best.

Although Lucius would never admit it, Draco was a lot like his Father in intelligence, magical ability and personality. The portrait of Lucius' Father, Abraxas Malfoy, had told this to his proud son again and again but Lucius never saw any similarity between himself and his rather disappointing son. Just like Draco Lucius had been a very spoiled, headstrong boy who even with being given every advantage, the best of tutors and had the powerful Abraxas for a Father, Lucius had been found to be "unsatisfactory" to his Father.

It wasn't until "Daddy Damnest" had met his "unfortunate end" that Lucius came into his own. By then he had been a member of the Inner Circle of the Dark Lord, courtesy of Abraxas' influence and not due to any great talent of his own. Once under the control of the Dark Lord, Lucius had to learn – fast – how to survive and please his Master otherwise he would have soon joined his Father.

In the end the only thing which had saved Lucius from impending disaster was when Harry Potter "defeated Voldemort" on October 31, 1981. Then Lucius was able to bribe his way out of Azkaban, saving his own skin and that of his chosen vassals while screwing over some relatives, "friends," allies and his main competition at the same time. The last thing Lucius Malfoy would have wanted to happen was the return of the Dark Lord but since he had never believed his Master's boast that he was immortal there was no danger of that happening so once Lucius (or someone else) finally managed to get rid of Dumbledore, Lucius would be the one to rule Magical Britain just as he had been planning and scheming to do since the end of the Dark Lord.

Meanwhile his only heir Draco would "rule" Slytherin House not because he had any real talent or was powerful and definitely not possessing any real cunning but because he was the son of Lucius Malfoy and any wizard not allied with Dumbledore would dance to Lucius' tune if they knew what was good for them.

It helped that Severus Snape was Head of Slytherin House and he saw to it that Draco was protected and if not liked or feared for himself was still a power in that House because he used his Father's name to threaten and intimidate his housemates. It also helped that Albus Dumbledore was playing his usual and incomprehensible games and had taken over the life of Harry Potter, kept him ignorant of his heritage and power in Magical Britain, isolated him and allowed the boy to be constantly abused by his peers and the press.

Draco was allowed to verbally abuse Potter – and the Longbottom heir – without fear of retaliation and it greatly enhanced Draco's standing and power being allowed to humiliate and slander two powerful heirs. To use a disgusting Muggle saying "it looked good on paper" but in reality would prove to be the downfall of the House of Malfoy.

It was the year of the Triwizard Tournament and Draco was dressing for the Yule Ball. He was on top of the world as he was at the height of his power at Hogwarts ever since…he helped to rid the world of Potter.

The stupid, ugly, ignorant, worthless, talentless Half-blood son of a Mudblood whore had been chosen as the fourth Champion in the Triwizard Tournament. He had been framed – anybody with an ounce of sense knew that – but Dumbledore had forced him to participate. Then, Dumbledore allowed the entire school to believe the git had lied and cheated his way into the Tournament and everyone had virtually abandoned him even his best (and only) friends or the only ones he was allowed to have.

The human cesspit, blood traitor Ron Weasley was happily slandering his "friend" and he had been ostracized by all of Gryffindor House except for the miserable, weak, stupid, worthless Squib Longbottom. Even the Mudblood Granger had abandoned him and it was known that she was refusing to "help him survive" the Tournament unless he "admit that he lied and cheated his way in and then publically apologized to all of Gryffindor House and then to the entire school and the guests schools as well as to do the "proper penance" and whatever other garbage she was spewing.

Snape had admitted to all of Slytherin House that "the arrogant bastard was actually innocent" but that Dumbledore was allowing the abuse and slander in order to "catch the culprit who had put the boy's name in the Goblet" and making Potter a pariah was the only way to lull the culprit into a false sense of security. The entire House had laughed at that pronouncement. However, for once they were willing to help Dumbledore in his grand plan by making Potter as miserable as possible.

Much to his great glee the Weaselwipe had approached Draco with the idea for the "Potter Stinks" badges and Draco happily supplied the funds for the manufacture and distribution of the badges going to so far as to give every student (and teacher) of all three schools a complimentary badge. Weaselwipe had also suggested that they be distributed outside the school but Draco had used up all of his generous pocket money so he settled for sending an anonymous note containing various "interviews" of students to Rita Skeeter with a few badges for "distribution" and permission to duplicate and distribute them.

It was open season on Potter and the bastard couldn't walk down the halls or attend a class without being openly booed, hissed at and being hit with curses and jinxes right in front of teachers, including his own Head of House who, as usual, did absolutely nothing to stop any of it.

Then Draco had the idea of a lifetime. In fact it had come to him in a dream and he bounced out of bed the next morning to make the necessary arrangements. His Father was going to be so proud of his son when he heard what he had done.

Besides Longbottom, the only person who had anything to do with Potter or showed him any kindness or gave any moral support was the old grizzled Auror Moody. The week before the first task Potter had been in hiding and didn't attend classes or eat in the Great Hall. Rumor had it that the Malfoy's former crazy house elf was bringing food to where Potter and Longbottom were hiding. Longbottom still attended classes but Potter was legally excused because he was in the Tournament. Both boys had been kicked out of Gryffindor House and Longbottom had been attacked for siding with the $%#*$ #*^ former Gryffindor so both had to keep a low profile to survive.

The night before the first task Harry had been forced to come out of hiding to attend a special feast as this tradition was part of the Tournament so he had to attend or suffer severe consequences. He came but Neville didn't as they both knew it was one last chance to humiliate and abuse Harry before the Tournament started. And that was exactly what happened. It seemed the entire meal was dedicated to torturing Harry Potter. Finally it ended and Harry was escorted out of the hall under the protection of Moody who led him back to his quarters.

Just as Potter and Moody were about to reach Moody's quarters Draco's hirelings attacked. They knocked both Moody and Potter unconscious, left Moody lying in the hall and took Potter with them. Potter was magically silenced, bound, blindfolded and hidden away in the "safe house" of Slytherin and would stay there until after the first task. Since he wouldn't be able to participate he would automatically lose his magic.

Draco couldn't wait to see the expression on Potter's face when he, Draco Malfoy, told him what had happened to him and that it was Draco who had arranged for Potter to lose his magic as that was what happened to worthless, pieces of dung, bastard sons of blood traitors and Mudblood whores.

Draco and his sycophants could hardly contain their joy during the first task. It was finally admitted that Potter hadn't shown and despite Dumbledore demanding that the Tournament continue until Potter could be found, he was actually (to his great personal shock) shouted down and disobeyed and Cornelius Fudge had been forced to take control and declared the first task over because so many people in the stands had been shouting out that Potter was a coward who rather lose his magic than his worthless life and a riot was starting to break out.

A gleeful Draco practically ran back to Slytherin House along with his lackeys so very eager to confront Potter and taunt him unmercifully. However, when they burst into the secret room Potter was gone. No matter, he had definitely lost his magic and once he was found he would be expelled from Hogwarts and kicked out of the Magical World forever. Eventually Draco would get his day of fun and now he would have time to think of more things to say to the new Mudblood Squib.

In any event he, DRACO MALFOY, _HAD CRUSHED, RUINED AND TOTALLY DESTROYED HARRY POTTER AS WELL AS ENDING THE LINE OF AN ANCIENT AND NOBLE HOUSE_. His Father would be delighted with what his clever son had done and that was the best thing of all.

Because he had been hidden in the Slytherin secret room Moody hadn't been able to find him nor could Dumbledore or Fawkes as this room was known only to Slytherins who swore a sacred oath not to reveal it to anybody. Snape had no idea what Draco was doing and definitely would have stopped it had he known. Harry Potter had to survive and have magic if he was to defeat the Dark Lord.

It had been Dobby the house elf who finally found Potter but too late for him participate in the Tournament. He had overheard one of the elves assigned to Slytherin House bragging what was happening to Potter and "Dobby had to beat it out of the elf to tell him where the secret room was but it was too late…Dobby was too late to save Harry Potter's magic" the sobbing elf told Dumbledore and the others.

Dobby had taken Harry to the Infirmary for treatment and then fetched Dumbledore and the others. An examination was done and Harry had indeed lost his magic and was now a Squib, maybe even lower than a Squib as _everything remotely magical (like a certain curse)_ was gone from the boy. An angry Dumbledore immediately expelled the unfortunate child because without magic, Harry was no good to him except to die. He would die but not according to Dumbledore's elaborate plans many of which would now have to be completely remade.

In an act of vengeance against the helpless and innocent boy Dumbledore took him back to the Dursleys, explained the situation and just left the boy in their "care" and Vernon asked "Will we still be getting that money" as Dumbledore was flashed out by Fawkes. Dumbledore immediately flashed to Gringotts to check on the trust fund and sure enough now that the boy had become a Squib his trust vault automatically reverted to the Potter main vault and was forever lost to Dumbledore.

On December 1st when Fawkes didn't flash in with the Dursleys' monthly cash payment for them to "take care of the boy according to Dumbledore's special instructions" Vernon realized that they were screwed and without the money they had been getting there was no way in hell they would keep the boy. He'd be going to an orphanage – the worst one Vernon could find – and that was that. However, before that happened he was going to give the boy one last well-deserved beating for "robbing them" of the £1,000 per month they had been paid since they were forced to take him in.

However, although Vernon had given the boy several beatings since he had returned he failed to notice that the bruises, cuts and broken bones had not healed like they always had because Harry had had magic to protect and heal him. Now he didn't and when Vernon gave that one last beating – oops – he beat the boy to death. So in the dead of night had anybody been looking they would have seen Vernon dragging a large trash bag and putting it into the boot of his car. He drove to a little used dump and got rid of the body while Petunia scoured up the evidence.

They would have gotten away with it had not a reporter from the _Daily Prophet_ (not Rita Skeeter but an up and coming young cub looking for a story) decided to follow the Muggle and see what he had dumped. After throwing up several times, the reporter took Aurors to the spot and then ran off to write his career-making story.

All hell broke loose but Dumbledore "took care of things" so that he came out smelling like a rose as usual while the poor boy was just vilified in death much as he had been in the past few months. Nobody mourned except for Neville and a few other "real friends" Harry had secretly managed to make and Draco Malfoy. Draco was pissed that he had been denied his chance to taunt Potter but at least he had had the satisfaction of making his Father proud of him and that was what truly mattered to him.

Draco had won and Potter had lost. Potter had paid the ultimate price for daring to snub Draco Malfoy but now Draco was alive, had his magic, wealth, heritage and position in the world while Potter had been totally robbed of everything before he had met his painful and humiliating death at the hands of a mere Muggle.

Draco ruled. When he got around to it he would completely crush his other enemies like the Weasley vermin, the Mudblood Granger (who he had special plans for) all the other Mudbloods and eventually anyone in the school who refused to side with Draco or had ever rebuffed him.

He'd let his Father take care of Dumbledore as that had always been one of his main goals. Draco rationalized that he was still a student and did have some learning to do and vendettas to carry out.

Yes the world was now in the possession of the Malfoys, which was their right. They were all powerful and Voldemort was just a memory, a memory which would quickly fade just like the "legend" of Harry Potter.

And Draco was the one who accomplished it, the one who won and always would.


	2. Chapter 2 - A Rude Awakening

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 2 – A Rude Awakening

As Draco strutted down to attend the Yule Ball he once again reveled in the fact that HE had defeated Potter. He thought about it several times every day but today was to serve to remind others that Potter was truly gone and had been suitably punished for his sin of defeating the Dark Lord. Potter was not alive and could not attend the Yule Ball and begin the dancing with the other (real) Champions. Not that he would have gotten a date for the ball as who would have wanted to go with Potter anyway?

It had been a month since Draco's "triumph" and even though he had been warned by Snape _not to mention his part in destroying Potter_ a little thing like that wouldn't stop Draco as everybody just had to know who was really responsible. So he and certain other foolish Slytherins told the students of all three schools all about Draco's plan and he basked in the glow of his success.

His Father had been proud but wise enough not to brag about his son's "success" and since Dumbledore hadn't tried to stop him from letting the world know of it…well Draco was riding high. Rita Skeeter had written a very long (and flattering) article about the "Potter disaster" and although no names were mentioned it was an open secret who was responsible for punishing the attention-seeking, worthless son of a Mudblood whore.

So there would be no punishment given (by Dumbledore or the Ministry) to Draco and his accomplices, but had he bothered to notice, no one other than his personal lackeys were praising him for his great achievement. Being Draco he never thought to consider that there were actually some people who thought what had happened to Potter was despicable – despite him being a cheater. Draco wouldn't have cared if he was told because in his view, that would only mean "they" were jealous of him as well they should be because HE WAS A MALFOY AND THE WORLD WOULD SOON ALL BOW DOWN TO THEM.

The Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Houses were all divided regarding the fate of Harry Potter. The "secret" had been leaked about what had really happened and that Potter had been telling the truth of being framed. Ravenclaw and half of Hufflepuff were angry and felt…bad…about what had happened to Potter. Those two Houses didn't "like" or respect Gryffindor but now that House would be vilified by them and the two guest schools also looked down on all the lions. They already had a poor opinion of Slytherin and Draco Malfoy before the "incident" but now…well Draco didn't know it – yet – but he would have to continually watch his back from this Christmas Day on as he would be receiving a very nasty surprise.

The only thing which marred Draco's success was…well he missed Potter. He still taunted any and all Weasleys, Longbottom, assorted Gryffindors and especially the Mudblood Granger, but it just wasn't the same as taunting and sparing with Potty. No matter how hard Potter tried to control his temper when Draco was saying outrageous (and very hurtful) things to him, every time he nearly succeeded the Weaselwipe was there to egg him on and get him in trouble and Uncle Severus was always near to jump in and give Potter detentions and deduct points.

Draco enjoyed being cruel to people especially those who weren't allowed to defend themselves or had no one to protect them. Granger was in hiding and so was Longbottom. They went to classes and quickly disappeared and didn't eat in the Great Hall. Longbottom was still in exile and it was said the house elf was bringing him food wherever he was hiding. Longbottom was so pathetic it wasn't fun torturing him anymore so Draco didn't look for him.

Granger was hanging out in the Library but apparently she had learned the disillusionment charm to help her hide and to protect herself. Now that Potter was gone she wasn't "needed" to be one of his controllers and definitely had no friends. The Weasleys didn't talk to her although it was said that the Weaselwipe was demanding that she do his homework for him and make copies of all of her notes otherwise the Twins would "teach her a well-deserved lesson" if she knew what he meant. And she did and had no choice but to obey him.

It was rumored that she was seen to be limping and had bruises but told the teachers "she had fallen" or ran into a door. In other words the Weaselwipe was abusing her and Draco hoped he really hurt her or, better yet, killed her. She'd be dead and he'd probably be expelled. Everybody knew about the abuse but as usual not even her Head of House did anything about it or tried to protect her.

There had been a rumor going around that Viktor Krum had asked her to the Yule Ball but she had declined saying she had to go home for the holidays due to illness in her family. Draco didn't believe for a moment that ANYBODY would ask Granger to the ball especially Viktor Krum. Pansy had laughed for three days when she had heard the "nonsense" and no one in Slytherin believed it either.

Despite there being a historic ball, many of those eligible to attend were going home for the holidays. He and even Dumbledore didn't know it then but many of those leaving wouldn't be returning to Hogwarts. Granger, Longbottom, a few Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs and for some unfathomable reason Millicent Bulstrode were among those not returning but few would care.

Draco was escorting Pansy to the ball because everyone expected it. She wore a very expensive gown, some costly jewelry and more makeup than she should but as his Mother said "The Parkinsons have more money than taste" so Draco forgave her. After all no one would be looking at her just Draco because he was so very awesome and had proved his talent and power by destroying Potter.

Draco made his grand entrance walking proudly and more arrogantly than James Potter ever did. He "knew" all eyes were on him as he strutted through the doors of the Great Hall and although at first disappointed that all conversation hadn't ceased when he entered he quickly decided they were talking about him so that was a good thing.

He took his seat at the head of one of the Slytherin tables as it was his right and due. The Great Hall soon filled up and the Champions made their grand entrance. Dumbledore gave a short speech and then Fudge gave a longer one. Then Dumbledore announced the feast officially opened and told the students how to order their food.

Draco picked up a menu and carefully perused it. He decided on the prime rib with mixed mushrooms, petit pois and _Lyonnaise_ potatoes and tried to order a goblet of wine although knowing he wouldn't get it. Plates containing the choices of others appeared including Pansy's choice but not Draco's. Annoyed he yelled at the menu "where's my food" and then **"IT"** appeared.

Pansy was the first to scream and continued doing so. Others joined her but Draco sat frozen in his chair and just stared. Instead of the delicious dinner he had ordered on the silver plate was…the head of his Father. Lucius' eyes were wild and filled with pain, shock and…horror. His elegant long, platinum hair was in disarray and covered in blood and other filth. There were cuts and bruises on his once handsome features and blood surrounded his severed neck and began to seep out and off of the plate.

Draco fainted as that was the only thing he could think to do.

When he woke up he was in the Infirmary. Snape was sitting at his side wearing a worried look.

"Please tell me I was dreaming" the scared boy asked softly.

"I can't because you were not" was the reply from the cold, stone face of Severus Snape.

"How? Why?" the boy sobbed out.

"We don't know yet. Aurors are investigating…your Father…as well as the other…things… which occurred after you fainted."

The boy froze for a moment before asking hysterically "NOT MOTHER! PLEASE NOT MOTHER."

"Not as far as we know. What I am referring to was the things which happened at the feast. You were not the only victim of horror. Ronald Weasley managed to acquire a date but Lavender Brown came to the feast claiming she had been stood up. However, when the Weasley "slut" who was the date of the Dean Thomas ordered her food, she too received a head – her dear brother Ronnie. Let us just say that your Father's countenance was…more pleasing to look upon compared to his. I am surprised she didn't wake you up with her screams."

"How couldn't anything be worse that what happened to my Father?"

"It could and was and you really, really don't want to know at the moment but I am sure you will either read about it in the _Prophet_ or hear all of the gory details from your housemates. Suffice it to say that not even your dear Aunt Bellatrix ever thought up such a repulsive act."

"Who else?" the boy asked hoping to get the vision of his Father out of his mind by hearing about someone else's misfortune.

"Assorted Ravenclaws who are noted for their bullying as well as a few Gryffindors who were very vocal in their chastisement of the late Harry Potter. You will be glad to hear that all members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team are currently at St. Mungo's because of the seriousness of their injuries. The obnoxious announcer, Lee Jordan suffered the same fate as his Quidditch friends."

"What happened to them?"

The team, Jordan and the vocal and bullying toadies all burst into flame as soon as their food was delivered. It was quickly put out but not before all of them received severe burns. Pomfrey couldn't handle all of the casualties here hence St. Mungo's getting the worst cases. Just so you know you are in one of the private rooms in the Infirmary due to the death of your Father. It is believed that you might be the next target because of the letter Fudge received and was compelled to read before he fainted."

"Who…who's wrote the letter and what did it say?"

"I don't believe you would want to hear it until you are stronger. Also it is still being investigated. Hopefully it can be prevented if the culprits can be found before they strike again."

"Have any of my enemies – besides the Gryffindorks – been hurt?"

"I have better things to do than keep track of the many enemies you have made during your years at Hogwarts. I will say that several Slytherins – such as those who assisted you in 'ruining Potter' - are no longer among the living."

"How…how…did they die?"

"Several dozen very vicious and poisonous snakes were dropped onto the victims and…well as a Slytherin you know – or should - what happens when a snake is removed from its habitat and suddenly dropped on a screaming human. Some of the snakes slithered over to other tables and five of them descended on Headmaster Karkaroff. Three almost got Dumbledore but he got his shield up just in time."

Draco took a moment to compose himself. Frankly he didn't care who died as long as it wasn't his Mother and of course himself. However, he remembered something and turned to Snape and demanded "I want all of the Hogwarts house elves questioned – under torture – to find out which one of them 'served my Father's head to me' and then I went them tortured slowly and as painfully as possible to death. In fact, I demand to do it myself."

Snape was silent for a moment before asking "And why do you think the elves are to blame?"

Draco sighed petulantly before responding "Because they are in charge of the food and serve it" he said as if talking to a small child or Crabbe and Goyle instead of his formidable Head of House.

Snape sneered at him replying "NOT IN THIS CASE. Besides even if an elf or two had been compelled to deliver Lucius' head to you what makes you think that anyone would care about your wants let alone allow you to torture anyone to death?"

Draco couldn't remember when he had been so insulted by anyone and angrily replied "Because I AM A MALFOY and since my Father's death I am now LORD MALFOY and have every right to be obeyed and given the deference and respect…."

Snape laughed. He actually laughed out loud long and hard much to the shock and confusion of Draco. It was not a pleasant sound. However before Draco could recover long enough to spit out a nasty retort Snape beat him to the punch.

"Oh Draco, Draco, you have so very much to learn and I suggest you start now. Your Father greatly neglected the education you should have been given and in his hubris he wouldn't allow your Mother to tell you some very important things you needed to learn. He actually forbade her because as he informed her "he had everything under control and no one – not even the Dark Lord himself – would prevent him from obtaining his goals."

"Well of course not" Draco snapped back. "We are Malfoys and…."

"Some of the greatest fools of the century despite what Lucius thought. He told you and others, including me, that the Dark Lord was gone for good."

"Well he is!"

"DON'T INTERRUPT YOU PETULANT CHILD" Snape snarled at him. "I will let you in on what for the moment is a secret only because you need to know. YOU WILL NOT TELL ANYONE THIS INFORMATION AS FOR THE MOMENT IT IS TOP SECRET AND MUST REMAIN SO FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

Draco nodded wearily. He would make the decision whether or not to use the information as his Father had taught him that much. He didn't notice that Snape was staring directly into his eyes nor did he notice the slight tickling sensation in his mind.

Snape had expected nothing less of the boy considering Lucius was his Father. So he'd _let the boy make the decision_ concerning what he would reveal to him and if Draco got himself killed well that was his problem and the curse of being a Malfoy.

"Late on the Solstice my Dark Mark started causing me pain. It wasn't the pain associated with a summoning but when I checked my arm the mark was just as dark as it had been when I was given it. Karkaroff was then banging on my door as his mark had also darkened and "we compared notes" as the saying goes. I then floo called Malfoy Manor asking permission to come through. Once I had permission an elf led me to your Father's study where your Mother was in the process of trying to calm him down – and failing."

"Throughout the night others contacted your Father and a meeting was held at the Manor. The meeting ended with a wait-and-see attitude being adopted as it could be just a fluke – which was what many such as Lucius were hoping for – because if the Dark Lord had managed to come back from the dead as promised, he would have immediately summoned us all."

"Personally I opined that he might still be recovering from whatever ritual he had used to return but most, especially your Father, voted me down because they didn't want to believe HE WAS BACK. You see Draco, people like Karkaroff betrayed our Lord to save their own skin. He caused many of the faithful to be outed – including me – but because of his betraying of others and the fact that he wasn't a British wizard and was from a powerful Germanic family, he was allowed to go free and even prosper by becoming the Headmaster of Darmstadt. However, despite his escape, Karkaroff knew that if the Dark Lord had returned from the dead, his miserable life was forfeited."

"Then why didn't he flee?" Draco asked.

"Because Dumbledore swore he would protect him from any danger. Also, since there wasn't any proof other than the dark mark flaring up, Karkaroff allowed himself to be talked into believing he was safe. I told you how well that turned out."

"Now what I tell you next must not leave this room IF YOU ARE TO HAVE ANY CHANCE OF SURVIVING" Snape warned the boy. "Dumbledore never tells his secrets or shares his information but he knew that the Dark Lord was planning on resurrecting and would be using Potter to achieve it. That was the real reason why a very dangerous Tournament was revived after an absence of two hundred years. As I told my Slytherins after Potter's name came out of the Tournament, the hell-spawn bastard was framed and forced to compete and for his own unspecified reasons Dumbledore wanted him to become a pariah because abusing and 'testing' the brat are all part of some nefarious plan of Dumbledore."

"However, SOMEONE decided to ruin and crush Potter for his own 'eternal glory and to make his daddykins proud of him' – didn't you?"

"But it worked and…if you really think about it, it not only ruined Potter but Dumbledore's plans so that's a good thing right?" Draco asked hopefully.

"No. It wasn't. Lucius might have been delighted but everyone else – especially the Dark Lord – was not. You wouldn't believe the things I had to do to protect you from Dumbledore's wrath."

"Hmmmph. As if Dumbledore could do anything to me, a Malfoy" the naïve boy replied.

Snape merely pinched the bridge of his nose before saying "YES HE CAN. Dumbledore plays the fool at times mostly for the benefit of his foolish sycophants, but even Lucius knew just how unscrupulous and dangerous Dumbledore is. Ministry officials, Aurors and the Goblins weren't the only ones Lucius paid bribes to secure his freedom from Azkaban. Most gladly took gold but Dumbledore took favors and he always collected. Lucius would never admit it even to Narcissa and definitely not to you, but Dumbledore did collect some of those favors. Dumbledore is Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and all he has to do is 'discover some new evidence' regarding your Father and have Veritaserum administered to him, have the right questions asked and Lucius would have joined your Aunt Bellatrix in a flash."

"He does the same to others and most especially to me which is why I walk a very fine line and am forced to teach dunderheads in Hogwarts and not do the research I should be doing to benefit the Magical World. I am just as much a prisoner of Dumbledore's as your Aunt Bellatrix is one in Azkaban."

"Now the reason why I am here guarding you when I could be of much more use helping in the investigations is because I am the only one Dumbledore can _'trust'_ to protect and not kill you. You can be of use to him so you will remain here and hopefully not be killed. Although I wasn't privy to the contents of the letter, I was told that you have been 'marked for suitable punishment' and if the great Malfoy name and influence didn't save your Father IT WON'T SAVE YOU!"

Draco was too stunned to reply – which was a good sign in Snape's opinion - so Snape continued on.

"Lucius might have died but you can't assume the title of Lord Malfoy until you reach the age of 17. Until then you must have a guardian and at the moment it is Narcissa and me as your godfather. Had you paid attention to the lessons your poor Mother tried to instill you would know that but since Lucius was intending to live for a very long time you probably don't know any of the ins and outs of the inheritance laws now do you? No. I thought not."

"Well then you and Mother must pull some strings and allow me to inherit so that I…."

"That definitely will not be happening Draco as neither your Mother nor I would be irresponsible enough to turn a lordship over to an ignorant, naïve, untrained boy just because he wants it. There is much more to being the Head of a House than strutting around and bribing your way to power like Lucius did."

"HOW DARE YOU…YOU…."

"SHUT UP BOY. Your current behavior only proves your unreadiness and even if Narcissa was insane enough to try to declare you an adult…Dumbledore wouldn't allow it."

"WHAT THE HELL DOES DUMBLEDORE HAVE TO DO WITH IT?"

Snape sighed heavily before saying "Draco, you have been unconscious for three days. You went into a deep shock and had to be administered several potions which caused you to remain unconscious. You missed a lot of _'interesting things'_ which happened one of which was Dumbledore… being Dumbledore. He used his position as Chief Warlock to close down Hogwarts and to declare a state of emergency."

"He declared your Mother to be prostrated with grief and unable to function rationally. He has also stated that I have death threats hanging over me and I am therefore ineligible to serve as your guardian. Then he very nicely _'volunteered'_ to aid the House of Malfoy in its hour of need and as of yesterday Dumbledore became your official and legal magical guardian until you reach legal age."

"HE CAN'T DO THAT!"

"He's Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, Chief Warlock, etc. and he does pretty much what he wants to. The only other person who could possibly stop him is your Mother's Head of House and that is…."

"ME! I'M THE RIGHTFUL LORD BLACK. My Father told me so and…."

"And he was…in error…to say it in a nice way. He has been trying to obtain the Lordship for you for years but the last Lord Black – Arcturus – permanently disinherited any child of Narcissa by Lucius which includes you and…."

"But I am the only possible heir. Sirius Black was disowned and there is no one else – or a Pureblood at least – so either I inherit or the House of Black goes extinct and the Goblins get all of the money after 1,000 years."

"Apparently Arcturus preferred it that way if it meant you or Sirius would inherit. However, should your Mother remarry and pop out an heir then that person could inherit."

"But Mother couldn't have any more children after me due to a defect in the Black…."

"NO! Again Lucius 'misinformed you' as it was he who was unable to father children due to some magic he dabbled in trying to increase his power. As far as I know, Narcissa is still capable of conceiving and giving birth. Dumbledore made it his business to find out this bit of information and that is probably why Narcissa ran for it. He thought she would come back to challenge his custody of you but she was smart enough not to as he would still have custody of you no matter what she tried AND he would have her in his clutches and to get his hands on the Black Lordship he would marry her off to the person of his choice and make certain she conceived and as long as that child wasn't an offspring of Lucius Malfoy, he could inherit the Lordship."

Draco paled worse than an albino with a vitamin deficiency before saying "HE WOULDN'T DARE."

Snape once again pinched the bridge of his nose and then shook his head. The kid just didn't use what little brains he had AND didn't listen. It was time to lay down the law.

"Draco despite what you were taught, led to believe, still believe, hope and whatever truly stupid thing which you might think of to get your way…well don't bother. You can't win and Dumbledore now has you under his control almost as much as he had Harry Potter. To put it bluntly – YOU ARE SCREWED – and unless you want to spend the summer holiday living with the Weasley Family, keep your mouth shut, your head down and hope that Narcissa finds a way to rescue you, although that will probably be impossible."

The boy started to open his mouth but Snape continued "And no I can't help you as Dumbledore has me in his clutches and I expect to be summoned by the Dark Lord at any moment and when that happens I don't know if I will survive. My own head might be served up to you at a later meal simply because you are my godson. Therefore do what I just told you and maybe – just maybe, you might survive the year."

For once Draco was speechless and Snape wondered if any of them would survive. He knew more (but not all) in that letter than he had told the boy but the information had made lesser wizards (such as Fudge) faint so who knew what Draco would do.

The only thing Severus Snape knew was that many, and most especially him, Draco and Narcissa were doomed because they were all caught between Dumbledore, Voldemort and…the unknown person(s) who had done the Christmas killings and sent the warning letter.

May the gods (and not Merlin who wasn't a deity but the son of a demon) help them all.


	3. Chapter 3 - Tallying the Carnage

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 3 – Tallying the Carnage

The Christmas killings (as the murders were called by the _Prophet_ ) and just been the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Seven had died at Hogwarts starting with Karkaroff, Ron Weasley, the three older years Slytherins Draco had gotten to capture and hide Potter and two Gryffindor Prefects. Forty students from all three schools had been injured and three were still in critical condition.

Lucius had been killed outside of Hogwarts as the rest of his horribly mutilated body was found lying across the desk of Cornelius Fudge. Fudge had to be sent to St. Mungo's for treatment and he was constantly under guard by no fewer than six Aurors 24/7.

Fudge's office was not the only room in the Ministry which held a dead body or two. Several close associates of Lucius had disappeared from their homes on Christmas Day evening after being called to the Ministry for an emergency meeting. They were found on the 26th not only dead but their bodies also badly mutilated.

News of Voldemort's possible return had been kept quiet at least from Fudge and the Ministry but certain individuals known for being anti-Voldemort and diehard followers of Dumbledore had been killed. Fudge was all for blaming Sirius Black until that individual's body had been found early on the 27th in the middle of Trafalgar Square by some early morning joggers. Scotland Yard had been called in due to the…condition of the body…and one of the tabloids likened it to a scene out of Jack the Ripper's last official kill.

Last year Sirius Black's face had been all over the media as a dangerous escaped convict so had it not been for all of the publicity in the Muggle World he might have just been considered another unidentified victim found without identification and termed a John Doe. But the manner of his death had caught the attention of the tabloids and he was quickly identified.

For two weeks strange deaths happened. Mostly they were drug dealers and suppliers. They were some of the worse examples of hardened criminals and were very successful. Even when caught by the police, they were soon out on bail, either didn't show up at court or were acquitted if they did and never served time. Thus, they were back on the street doing it all again. The laws which were enacted to serve the innocent were used by _'talented'_ lawyers who played the system and used every loophole and dirty trick possible to get their clients off. Victims and witnesses either refused to give testimony or "met with an accident" or disappeared never to be found. The police were helpless and the dealers and their bosses just laughed in the faces of the police.

The police just thought it was a drug war for control of territory. Although the police were glad (but could never admit it) that some of these people were finally off the street, they were far more worried that the people taking over the territories were some of the most ruthless and unscrupulous people in the world. The methods and the manner of deaths used were examples of drug lords from the Americas who stopped at nothing to wipe out the competition, control the area and use the "hard sell" by introducing more dangerous drugs and inducing new people and even very young children to "sample their goods" and then once hooked…."

The one thing which was noted was that all money and drugs were taken from the "losers" and that so far, no one new had moved into the territories. Several areas of London were now "drug free" and that didn't make sense at all.

The tabloids started a story that a new Jack the Ripper had arisen but instead of a crazed killer of prostitutes, this Ripper killed the bad guys. The gruesome manner of the deaths and the absence of no clues or witnesses were liken to Jack the Ripper as the odd vital organ or two were missing. There was no note sent to any newspaper but a few reporters knew their history, put two and two together and got a sensational story. It was agreed by these reporters that this Ripper just might be a vigilante. Was the new Ripper a villain or a hero? Only time would tell and the news media promised to keep the public apprised of all details.

However, that was _Muggle business_ and went unnoticed in the Magical World of Great Britain as they had their own problems.

Dumbledore was puzzled for once in his life. He could understand Voldemort punishing Lucius and the others but…Ron Weasley? Besides his hideous death, many Gryffindors had been injured and two killed. According to McGonagall, those killed and injured had been some of the worse critics of Potter and had gone over and above the call of duty in making his life miserable. If Dumbledore didn't know better he would think that someone was avenging Potter but the only person he could think of was… well nobody.

Even Sirius Black and Remus Lupin had lost interest in the boy for two reasons. The first was as members of the Order of the Phoenix they had bound by magical oaths to obey Dumbledore in ALL THINGS and when he had forbade them from contacting and helping the boy they had no choice but to do so until after the first task when Dumbledore "allowed Harry" back into the bosom of his loved ones.

The second and most important reason was that when Harry had lost his magic HE HAD LOST EVERYTHING. He was now less than a Squib as he was now legally a Muggle. He lost his heritage, his wealth, his position and everything which made him acceptable to wizards. Since he had lost his magic his position could now be considered as being excommunicated from the Magical World. He was to be shunned by all Magicals, including half-breeds like Hagrid and even his own familiar Hedwig wasn't allowed contact with him.

Anything Magical was denied to him which was why Dumbledore had just grabbed him and sent him to the Dursleys leaving all of his personal possessions behind. Dumbledore took custody of the Invisibility Cloak and the Marauders' Map and gave Harry's broom to Ron and Hedwig to Ginny. Naturally the %*&#%*#&*#*#&* fought over the broom and Ginny had whined and nagged until her Father gave the broom to her much to Ron's anger.

Since he was permanently exiled, no one could contact him or give him any aid or even news. For example if Neville tried to send him a letter Neville could be fined or since he was at Hogwarts being given detentions and have points taken. However, although the reporter from the Prophet couldn't interview him – as that would be talking to him – he could report on him for the amusement and enjoyment of the public and his enemies.

The only reason the reporter reported Potter's death to the Aurors was so they could authenticate it and Harry Potter could then be officially be removed from the history books. The reporter did get a bonus for his story much to the annoyance of Rita Skeeter as now she couldn't write nasty things about Harry Potter.

The Aurors knew Vernon Dursley had murdered Harry Potter in cold blood after torturing him for over a week. However, they did nothing to Vernon because as far as the British Ministry of Magic was concerned a Muggle had been killed and they didn't care if Muggles killed each other so it was none of their business to report Harry's murder to the Muggle police. In other words, Vernon Dursley finally got his greatest wish and got to kill Harry Potter and get away with it.

Or so he thought. On December 30th Vernon Dursley disappeared. He never returned from calling on a new client. The name and address of the client was listed in his appointment book and when the police were called in, the address was an old abandoned warehouse and the client's business didn't exist.

On January 5th Vernon's body was discovered inside the main office of the Inland Revenue. Scotland Yard was called in and the 28 year veteran of the Yard declared it the worst case of torture and murder he had ever witnessed. Somehow Vernon's personal safe was with the body and when "the Tax Man" investigated the contents…well it was a good thing Vernon was dead otherwise he would be facing decades in prison, among other things, such as the complete ruination of his reputation.

Due to an anonymous tip Scotland Yard finally went to 4 Privet Drive and found EVIDENCE which rocked the quiet "normal" community to its very roots. Several members of the local police department and the primary school Headmaster and teachers were led out in cuffs with cameras flashing and reporters frantically covering the worst case of child abuse, bribery and indifference in the history of Surrey.

When Vernon went missing Dudley hadn't returned to Smeltings and just before the body was discovered he and Petunia "mysteriously disappeared" after cleaning out all bank accounts, maxing the charge cards for advances and taking anything of value which was portable and could fit into a suitcase. They wouldn't be found but Marge Dursley was then she was interrogated and would serve time because although the police couldn't prove it, she was the prime suspect for the murder of Petunia and Dudley Dursley.

She had proudly admitted that she had "helped Vernon give the freakish, worthless, abominable bastard much needed lessons whenever she visited and bragged what her brother did to "IT" to punish him. Also her kennel had violations up the wazoo so she wouldn't be hurting any children or drowning "mongrels" ever again.

She also admitted that she did not like her sister-in-law. If something happened to Petunia, then Marge would be Dudley's guardian and Dudley would inherit everything the Dursleys had, including the very large insurance policies on the adult Dursleys. Marge would handle all financial matters for her nephew until he became of age.

If Dudley died then Marge would inherit everything. Between the house and its contents, Vernon's pension and company stock, and the insurance policies of ALL Dursleys (Dudley was also heavily insured) Marge would inherit close to £3 million as Vernon paid extra for a double indemnity clause. Another surprise was the insurance policy Vernon had taken out on his nephew. If the brat died or went missing and was presumed dead, the Dursleys (or their heirs) would be paid £500,000.

So far Marge was the only suspect because the Muggle World didn't know that Vernon had done something very, very foolish. He had doubled-crossed Dumbledore. Dumbledore had added on extra money beyond the £1,000 a month they were getting for Potter which even Petunia didn't know about. It was for the insurance policy on Harry Potter. When the boy died (and die he would), Dumbledore would provide the necessary paperwork to the insurance company and after the payout Dumbledore would split the money with Vernon.

Well actually he wouldn't because Dumbledore had made other plans. Once Potter was dead there was no need for the Dursleys to survive let alone prosper. They would be loose ends and would have to be "tidied up" and if they all died after Harry Potter, their entire estate would be donated to a certain special charity fund which was run by one Albus Dumbledore on behalf of needy orphans. But since Vernon had doubled-crossed him…well if the Muggle police knew about it then this needy orphan charity and Albus Dumbledore would have been the most likely suspect.

There had been no mention of it on the policy or in the Dursley Will so Dumbledore would lose the galleon equivalent of G100,000 an immense sum in the Magical World. There was still a chance to get the inheritance if Marge Dursley could be "convinced" to bequeath all of her worldly goods to this noble cause. However, she was in jail for the moment and if it could be proven she had offed her family and Potter, it would negate the insurance policies and her inheritances.

It seemed that nothing was going right for Albus Dumbledore. Besides losing access to Potter's trust vault and his future inheritances (the ones he didn't and would never know he had), he lost the "Dursley inheritance" and his very own life was in danger. The killer - or assassin as _great men_ such as Dumbledore were not killed, they were assassinated - had nearly got him.

It had been too close a call and he hadn't been able to find out how the assassin got into Hogwarts and manipulated the house elves. He had them all questioned and all were innocent. No one could get into Hogwarts without Dumbledore knowing it but someone had. Therefore, it had to have been someone from one of the guest schools or a Hogwarts student.

Dumbledore was making arrangements for all students to be questioned under Veritaserum just as soon as enough was brewed. It wouldn't be ready until after the holidays. Until then he had to be extra careful and he personally checked his food and drink, office and personal quarters. With the exception of going to the Ministry to take care of certain things – like getting appointed guardian of Draco Malfoy – he would not leave Hogwarts.

He had even started wearing a protective amulet which cast an automatic shield should a spell be cast on him. Those snakes had been totally unexpected and the shock of their appearance and attack had nearly gotten him. He couldn't afford to let his guard down for a moment until he found out how the killings had been done and the "special dinners" served up.


	4. Chapter 4 - Secrets

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 4 – Secrets

Money ruled. It had always been that way and probably always would. It was the golden rule – _**"Those that have the gold make the rules."**_ Even before money came into existence and bartering was used, those who had more things to barter with, had more land and thus more power, they ruled and held the lives of many in their grasp.

Harry Potter had had money, he always had but didn't know it and it was denied to him by those who had no right to do so but did anyway. In the end, he had been robbed of the money he knew he had and left worse than penniless as he was totally at the mercy of his vicious Uncle and Aunt and had paid with his life for his lack of money.

At least that was what both the Muggle and Magical Worlds thought, that he had died. "Harry Potter" had been found locked in a prison, declared a Squib because since he hadn't participated in the first task he had lost his magic and much more. Without magic he was worthless in "his world" and had lost his life in the other world because he had no money and thus, no worth. In the end no one really cared he had died, but then again without his money, fame, heritage and most importantly his magic he didn't deserve their "care" or "love" and his life was deemed totally worthless.

He was not mourned or avenged even by his "beloved godfather" or "friends" or adopted family who "loved him like a seventh son/brother" but they never really had in the first place. He had just been used and abused and easily abandoned without a second thought. He hadn't even been given the dignity of a decent burial and his battered and abused body had been interred in a pauper's grave. It had been assigned a number and not a name.

Poor Harry Potter never had a chance in life and considering the life he had had, it was probably a mercy that he was dead. He was now above pain and free from the hell on earth which had been his life. Hopefully the embrace of death and what came or did not come after it would be better and he could finally find peace.

As far as both worlds were concerned Harry James Potter was dead, gone and would soon be forgotten. And it did as would the boy who was believed to be Harry James Potter. You see there was a great secret which not even the (almost) all-knowing Albus Dumbledore knew about. The boy hid in the secret room was not Harry James Potter. He had once had a name which even he had forgotten. Like Harry he had been called "boy" and other names (but not freak) and he had never had control over his young life and it could be said that his life had been worse than even Harry Potter.

The "boy" had been sold into the sex trade when he was six years old. At the time of his death he was 11 years old. Unlike Harry Potter "Boy" had been well-fed, given medical care when needed and thus was about the same size as the malnourished and abused Harry Potter. They had the same hair color and all that had to be done to the child was a bit of Muggle plastic surgery to change his facial features and give him the famous scar. Muggle surgery was done because it was too risky to glamour the child because it would be the first thing looked for when he was examined.

The only magic done was to permanently change the color of his blue eyes to Harry's famous green and for some of Harry's blood to be donated to the child to give him the appearance of once having had magic. It also gave Boy a slight boost of health because the Boy was dying. During his time as a sex slave he had been infected with HIV/AIDS and then cruelly abandoned and left to die. A children's charity had rescued him but didn't have the necessary funds to buy him the much needed medicine to help ease his pain.

He was dying and in pain and when a strange man came to the refuge where he was living out his painful days and made a very generous offer, the Boy gladly volunteered to be a "human guinea pig" or at least that was what the people at the charity were told. The Boy had been thoroughly briefed about the "experimental treatment" and had volunteered for two reasons. The first was because it would lessen his time of pain. The second was that the charity which had been so good to him would be given a generous donation so that they could help other children like himself. At least his death would have meaning and help others and that was more than he had hoped of ever doing.

The plan had worked. Not even Dumbledore had bothered to check too deeply into the magical-less body. He did have to endure over a week of pain at the Dursleys until his death but the stranger had arranged for "special medicine" to be given to the Boy by a very strange looking creature. When it had ended, the Boy's spirit had gladly left his body because he was now free for the first time in his short life.

The day that Harry Potter was cast out of the world Serpens Regulus Black had been born. The former Harry Potter had been told by his allies all about the Triwizard Tournament and the secret of the Goblet of Fire. Therefore he knew – HE JUST KNEW – that he was going to be illegally entered into the Tournament and that Dumbledore would be " _helpless and unable to get him out and he HAD TO PARTICIPATE OR LOSE HIS MAGIC"_ as well as knowing that he would once again be made into a pariah at the school and probably all of the Magical World. And he had but he and his allies hadn't imagined just how bad it would be.

Harry Potter had been planning his escape from Dumbledore, Hogwarts, the Dursleys and Magical Britain for nearly a year. The Boy had been found and the donation and medical treatment commenced with the intention being that Harry would "die" in an accident at the first possible moment. They had been working on setting up a believable way for him to die but then he heard about the Triwizard Tournament and knew it was just what they were looking for. The Boy had been placed in stasis for the last three months (to lessen his pain) and would be brought out shortly before the first task.

Harry had been briefed on the secrets of the Goblet of Fire. It was a fake. The reason the deadly Tournament had not been held in two centuries was because it was just that – DEADLY! What had started out as a friendly competition between the three main schools of magic had evolved into… opportunities…meaning, arranging for the death of heirs, starting feuds, heavy illegal betting which necessitated harming or killing the Champions so that certain people could make lots of money and various other things which made the Tournament a death trap.

Despite the many fail safes against cheating, illegal entrance, etc. ways to get around them were found and the death toll mounted especially when the public demanded to see more dangerous tasks.  
Many in Magical Europe demanded the dissolution of the Tournament. Others still had hope that it could one day be resurrected once again in "better times" but it hadn't happened. When the last Tournament was held all the champions had died and the Tournament was stopped.

However, throughout the years there had been many who wanted to revive it for their own nefarious reasons and it was just a matter of time until it was. Those against the revival took charge and secretly substituted a fake Goblet of Fire. It had most of the characteristics of the original one in that it those wishing to enter could put their names in and on Samhein three names would be chosen but that was as far as it went. There would be no penalties for any of the participants such as the loss of magic if they didn't want to participate or had been too injured to continue. The original Goblet was then destroyed and dropped to the bottom of the sea.

Even though the Goblet was a fake, all of the old rules still applied. Harry Potter had been illegally entered and "had he known that he could" a simple swearing on his life and magic that he hadn't entered or had anyone enter his name was all it would have taken to get him out of the Tournament. Harry knew it and Dumbledore, the Tournament Committee and the Ministry knew it but the latter two wanted Harry as the Boy-Who-Lived to participate for the publicity and to enhance the interest of the world. For them it was a money-making opportunity and none of them gave a damn that a 14 year old, inexperienced, basically untrained boy would be risking his life.

Dumbledore wanted Harry to participate for his own reasons – all of them bad and harmful to Harry. Cornelius Fudge had thought it had been his idea to bring back the Tournament but it was not. Dumbledore had planted the idea in his mind after Harry's second year and it had taken a year to get things rolling. Of course Dumbledore had used many of his important connections to make it a done deal but the public was not to know it any more than Fudge. Dumbledore was setting another trap to lure Voldemort out in the open and it had worked.

In the original rules Harry could still have gotten out before the first task. If a champion participated in the first task and wasn't seriously incapacitated, he/she had to compete unless someone prevented them from doing so like Draco Malfoy had done to Harry. There were still several other ways of getting out of participating but the public only knew what the Tournament Committee (and Dumbledore) wanted them to know.

But none of that had happened and Harry "had to compete" or suffer dire consequences. Therefore he had endured everything thrown at him and would not forget or forgive those who chose Dumbledore over him. Since that included all students and staff at Hogwarts except for three people and a few house elves Harry would be doing a lot of payback once he was free.

He had acquired "allies" during his second year. He had met a strange Ravenclaw girl while sneaking around Hogwarts late one night to get some peace. They became secret friends and she had told and taught him much, such as he had charms, spells, curses and other illegal magic cast on him. There wasn't anything they could do about it because it had to be cast by Dumbledore who probably had trackers monitoring the magic and he would be immediately alerted if any of them were removed.

Neville Longbottom was also his "secret friend" because despite being in the same House and sleeping in the same dormitory, only Ron Weasley, the Weasley Twins and Hermione Granger were allowed to have access to Harry. One of them was always at the side of Harry and especially Ron was present to prevent Harry from getting too close to Neville, Dean and Seamus. One night during first year both Harry and Neville had a midnight need to use the bathroom. It was the first of many times which they met up and got to talk.

During first year things were kept to a minimum because there was the danger that Ron would wake up, see Harry gone and look for him. Therefore it wasn't until Harry managed to learn a silencing charm (out of desperation to block out Ron's horrendous snoring as well as a sleeping charm that the boys could meet up to chat.

When Harry blew up Aunt Marge during the summer before his third year, he got to stay at the Leaky Cauldron only because (1) Sirius Black had escaped Azkaban was everybody knew he was coming to kill Harry Potter; (2) he had accidentally escaped from Privet Drive before Dumbledore found out but Fudge had found out due to the obliviation squad having to rescue and obliviate Marge; and (3) Fudge pounced on the opportunity to "protect Potter" by insisting on his staying at the Leaky Cauldron and even Dumbledore couldn't prevent it.

Of course Harry was under constant observation by both the Ministry Aurors and Dumbledore's people. Still Harry had the first taste of freedom in his life, got to do his summer homework and even read his new school books. He had wanted to switch from Divination and take Ancient Runes before he had left in June but his request was "illegally denied" by McGonagall. Plain and simple the old biddy had lied about Harry being able to change his electives because Dumbledore didn't want Harry to learn anything "useful" such as Runes.

But two other things saved Harry. He was free from the "protective" (but totally illegal and harmful wards) cast on Privet Drive and despite the extensive monitoring at the Leaky Cauldron some of his allies were finally able to contact him.

The second night he was there he had been doing his Charms homework when he received two visitors. They were two ghosts and both would have a profound effect on his life. They told him many things and had even suggested the "switch" to gain his freedom. They had been prevented from contacting him both at Privet Drive and definitely at Hogwarts because Dumbledore prevented it. However, they told him ways to get around certain things.

They told him of his various heritages and all of the things he should have been told and needed to know but again Dumbledore had prevented it. So had others, including many Goblins who had been heavily bribed by certain individuals other than Dumbledore. The most determined and treacherous of the lot was Lucius Malfoy but he was just one of many. Again Dumbledore allowed it for his own reasons.

The second was house elves. He was told to call Dobby the elf he had just freed from the Malfoys. Because he had rescued the elf Dobby could choose to stay free – which apparently wasn't a good idea because house elves needed to be around a wizard/witch to keep their magic intact and not to go insane. However, due to Dumbledore's manipulations an elf who was bound to a wizard/witch could not enter Hogwarts unless Dumbledore allowed it and he wouldn't.

Since the beginning of Hogwarts if a student had a house elf that elf could accompany their master/mistress to serve their needs. The elf provided extra protection from other wizards seeking to do harm to an heir/heiress and got to contact the student's family if anything put the child in danger. Naturally Dumbledore had stopped it when he became Headmaster because he wanted to completely control all students and lessen their contact with the outside world including their parents.

However there was a way for Dobby to bond with Harry. Once Harry went back to Hogwarts he should go to a secret place and call Dobby to him. They would bond inside of Hogwarts and thus it would get around Dumbledore's spells and Harry would have an elf of his own to help and protect him.

"You can do that with other elves and we suggest that you do acquire another one and not tell even Dobby about it. Dumbledore has ears and eyes everywhere and there may come a time when he will try to compromise Dobby because he knows the elf adores you and would gladly die for you. As we speak he might be already making plans regarding the elf."

They told him of Sirius Black, who he was and what he had been accused of doing. Sirius was guilty of many, many things but not of betraying James Potter or Harry because he was Harry's sworn godfather and had taken ritualistic oaths to protect the boy at the cost of his own life. _He couldn't have betrayed Harry_ but everybody else, yes. He could and he did. Harry had to swear to act like he didn't know anything about Black otherwise he would be dosed with Veritaserum (which the ghosts had to explain what the potion did) and then obliviated.

The ghosts had arranged for help to come to Harry while he was staying at the Cauldron. Hopefully the help could give him a few things (like an amulet) which would prevent him being compromised as he would be alerted when he was being spelled or receiving an illegal potion. He wouldn't be able to do anything about it but at least he would know.

There was much he couldn't be told but at least arrangements had been made to help him. Both ghosts swore they would rescue him and they had kept their word. The dream which Draco Malfoy had had was planted in his mind and the gullible ponce thought it had been his own idea. He had made all of the arrangements and the boy had made his appearance when Harry had been forced to attend the feast. It had worked like a charm.

The boy was wearing Harry's heavily spelled glasses so when he died it would register on the monitors/trackers Dumbledore still kept on the boy. It had also alerted Harry's allies who saw to it that the twinkling trinkets in Dumbledore's office were destroyed when "Harry died" except for the one monitoring Privet Drive.

"Impossible as it seemed" the Great Albus Dumbledore had been fooled as had the Goblins in his and others' employ. At the moment the Boy had died Harry was alerted and quickly completed the ritual which gave him his new identity. The pawn was dead; long live the Lord.

During the time all had been waiting for the Boy to die, because they knew that Vernon would kill him, all of the illegal magic had been removed from Harry, all of the illegal potions had been flushed out of his system and he had been able to claim one of his inheritances, that as Lord Black.

Arcturus had been the Lord Black and had made Harry his heir. His son Orion had been his heir and Sirius, as the oldest son, had been Orion's heir. But Sirius had betrayed his family and spit on it name and heritage. Sirius' Mother Walburga had officially disowned her wayward son but only the current Lord Black could disown a member of the family and HE HAD. Orion's second son Regulus had been made Orion's heir.

However, Regulus had been killed and the heartbroken Orion had followed within months. The race for an heir began in earnest with supposedly the only heir possible being the child that Narcissa Malfoy was carrying in her womb. Of course the child had to be born, survive and possess magic something the other three pregnancies which Narcissa had didn't manage to produce. It would help matters greatly if the child was a male as the House Black was patriarchal.

However there was another possible heir in a womb, namely the expected heir of James Potter, the son of Dorea Black Potter, a cousin of Arcturus. True James had married a Mudblood and his child would be a Half-blood and that had disqualified Sirius' and Regulus' cousin Andromeda who had been disowned for also marrying a Mudblood. However, according to the laws of House Black, although its motto was "Toujours Pur" or always pure, James Potter was an heir to an Ancient and Noble House and he had not been disowned by his family so despite his marrying a Mudblood and especially if the child was male, an exception could be made.

Just to be sure, although it had been extremely difficult, a sample of the Mudblood's blood had been acquired and a very thorough heritage test had been done. It had to be done at the Gringotts branch in France due to certain laws and the spies at Gringotts Britain, the Ministry and Dumbledore, but it was done. There had been rumors about the young witch for years questioning if she truly was a Mudblood as she was just too powerful and magically talented not to be a descendant of Squibs. The results of the test brought a smile to the lips of the old, sad wizard and he would be making the boy his personal heir.

Since Sirius was not only a cousin of James Potter but his best friend and "partner in crime" he was named godfather and did all of the special rituals needed to make the boy his heir. He could make the boy his heir but since Sirius had officially been disowned it wouldn't do Harry any good as he could only inherit Sirius' possessions. But since Arcturus had secretly made the child his heir, then Harry was the heir, followed by a few others just in case.

However Draco Malfoy wasn't one of them and never would be. Arcturus had always hated Lucius Malfoy before he married his niece but his behavior since the marriage made it necessary to disown any heir of Narcissa's body from inheriting if he/she had been fathered (or even adopted by) Lucius Malfoy. The Malfoys had been informed of this but chose to ignore it because Lucius was bound and determined to have the Black Lordship for his son and would stop at nothing to acquire it. The fact that he and Narcissa had received a very legal and irreversible legal document stating that even if it meant the end of the House of Black, no one with Malfoy blood in his veins would ever inherit and that was final. Arcturus had gone as far as having special rituals performed to make it ironclad and irreversible except for killing baby Draco, but still Lucius thought he could (and would) get around it. He was wrong.

Arcturus died in December 1991 Harry's first year at Hogwarts. As with all other inheritances and bequests Harry had received or was rightfully due, Albus Dumbledore would not let Harry inherit any of them unless he, Albus Dumbledore, as Harry's magical guardian (his illegal magical guardian if the truth be known but it wasn't) had complete control over it, which included all wealth, property and any Wizengamot votes.

Therefore, Harry had to wait until he was of legal age to inherit OR until he was not under the control of Albus Dumbledore. The way Dumbledore had arranged it, Harry would never get any of those inheritances because (1) he probably wouldn't live to reach the legal age; (2) Dumbledore wouldn't let Harry know about them because no one would tell him; (3) Dumbledore had arranged it so that once Harry was of legal age he could take control of handling the estates on the boy's behalf; and (4) Harry had made out an ironclad Will leaving all of his possessions to Hogwarts c/o of Albus Dumbledore.

Every so often Harry would update the Will he never knew about or would sign or remember signing and Dumbledore might not be able to acquire all of them (like the Potter estate) but he would get most of them.

Except that he never would because now Harry Potter had become Serpens Regulus Lord Black or "Snake" for short and if all went according to plan, Dumbledore and others would not long survive the late Harry Potter.

Snake's first order as Lord Black was to avenge the death of Regulus. It was the ghost of Regulus who refused to move to the great beyond because he had to tell his story and report the treachery to his Grandfather as it was the only way to save the House of Black.

Regulus had died while attempting to destroy a very valuable item of the Dark Lord. He didn't know what it was only what his family house elf Kreacher had told him. What Regulus didn't know until he actually died, he had been spelled to betray his Lord in any way possible so that his death would be the end result.

When a person died before they took the final step to leave the earth or remain earthbound as a ghost, their life flashed before them. All things were then revealed including acts of treachery. Apparently Lucius Malfoy wanted Regulus destroyed so that his heir would become Lord Black after Arcturus died. Being the devious, unscrupulous piece of &#*&#&^#& that he was, Lucius anonymously sent Dumbledore some very interesting information. He knew that Dumbledore would pounce on the information and the "anonymous source" suggested that Sirius Black was the only person capable of striking such a large blow to the Dark Lord.

Therefore, on Dumbledore's orders (since Sirius was a member of Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix and had to obey Dumbledore in all things) Sirius contacted his "beloved younger brother" asking for a secret meeting. The excuse was he had seen enough of Dumbledore and the Light to become disillusioned and both he and James were thinking of switching sides. However, Sirius needed to meet face-to-face with Regulus – alone – so that Dumbledore wouldn't find out.

Regulus agreed and the meeting was held. However, Regulus was totally unprepared when he was stunned in the back by James and then both James and Sirius told Regulus what they were going to do to the Dark Lord and to Regulus. Regulus had been Imperiused by his own brother to complete a certain mission, namely cause the most damage possible to the Dark Lord and his rebellion. Regulus would continue to work against the Dark Lord until it resulted in his death.

His "dear brother" had leered over him and cruelly told him exactly what he thought of Regulus, all of the family and that Regulus always had been a stupid, talentless fool and deserved to die. "My only regret is that I would get to see the look on our parents' faces when they hear of your death" he had said laughing. James had joined in the laughter and taunting until it was time to blur Regulus' memory and send him off to his doom.

It had taken the ghostly Regulus months to reach the main ancestral home of Castle Black and communicate to his Grandfather what had happened. It was then the ghost found out that his Father had died of grief (and by drinking himself to death until he choked on his own vomit). Eternal revenge was declared on Sirius Orion Black and James Potter as well as Albus Dumbledore and Lucius Malfoy.

Since October 31, 1981 when Harry had defeated Voldemort, Arcturus had moved heaven and earth to find the boy and save him from whatever it was that Dumbledore was planning. Due to Dumbledore's great political power even Arcturus could not find the boy even after he had gone to Hogwarts. He knew he was there but there was no way between Dumbledore and Lucius Malfoy's manipulations he could get to Harry.

Arcturus had become a hermit since that date as Lucius had "arranged" for Arcturus' death, hoping to finally get the Lordship for Draco. The one time he had been lured out of the Castle to Gringotts he had been killed. It had all been a plan of Lucius' and it had worked. The Goblins in his employ had told Arcturus that they had found a way to rescue Harry but Arcturus had to go to Gringotts to complete a special ritual.

Arcturus knew it was probably a trap but he also knew he was dying and had very little time left. So like in chess he sacrificed his piece (himself) to protect the king (Harry) and to set into motion a series of events guaranteed to ruin the plans of his enemies. His Cousin Cassiopeia was his only family ally and she had her own orders.

The precautions Arcturus had taken were all in place and before he left for his appointment, he cast a few rituals to prevent anyone other than Cassiopeia, Harry or the other designated heirs and the most faithful of house elves from entering any Black property except for Grimmauld Place. That was the house of the heir where Orion had lived. Since Orion had never disowned Sirius, Sirius could enter but with that traitorous ex-son of the House of Black himself betrayed by others condemned and confined to the hell of Azkaban, Arcturus didn't care. After Walburga's death, all really important books and family artifacts had been removed to other places and the house was left to rot with just the old house elf Kreacher standing guard.

As he left to meet his fate, Arcturus took off the Lordship ring which had never left his finger since he put it on in 1952 when he removed it from his Father's cold, dead hand. It was placed in a specially spelled casket and hidden by the chief house elf and only the elf and Cassiopeia knew where it was kept. It was merely for show as Arcturus had already decided to come back as a ghost since his "work on the earth was not finished" and he did.

Cassiopeia was ordered to fake her own death a few months later to fool Lucius and the others. Naturally she would not leave Castle Black just have her people report her death and hide her personal assets. She had let it be known that she had lost most of her wealth due to some bad investments and was living on the charity of Arcturus. For appearances sake she left Narcissa her "favorite necklace" which was all she had left of her jewelry.

So Arcturus went off to his assassination and came back to Castle Black in his new form to join Regulus and Cassiopeia and wait for the time when he could save the true heir of House Black.


	5. Chapter 5 - Jack

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 5 – "Jack"

Lucius never could get his hands on the Lordship or even the wealth of the Blacks. Apparently Arcturus had hidden the ring and had transferred much of the Black wealth out of Gringotts because he had found out about all of the betrayals of certain Goblins. Ragnok, the Head of Gringotts Britain had barely survived the bloodbath which Arcturus' death had caused.

Then there had been Dumbledore trying to claim the Lordship on Harry's behalf but ONLY if he could administrate it. None of the guardians or solicitors which Arcturus had appointed would be acceptable as Dumbledore "just knew" they would be Death Eaters. Therefore if he couldn't handle the estate, he would not allow Harry to have it. Ragnok had the pompous, obnoxious wizard shown to the door and actually flung out onto the street.

When Harry Potter had lost his magic and been cast out of the world, Lucius again showed up as did Dumbledore both wizards hoping to steal…ah acquire…something from what had been Harry Potter's. As he had done on numerous occasions, Lucius tried to get his hands on other things belonging to Potter citing the claim of Narcissa being one of the very few (acceptable) relatives of Harry Potter since she was a great niece of his paternal Grandmother. Again they were met with failure. Dumbledore had once again been thrown out of the bank.

Things went on as normally as possible for the next few weeks until the winter solstice when the marks darken. Shortly after Severus had left Malfoy Manor, Narcissa was called to Gringotts because one of the Goblins in the Malfoys' employ had found a loophole and there was a very good chance that Draco would get the Black Lordship. Naturally Lucius went on her behalf and it was as he was entering the bank when he was captured – and the rest was history.

Narcissa had received "a summons" from her Head of House, meaning there was a new Lord Black. She hurried off happily thinking she would be greeted by her precious son only to find two very angry house elves who allowed her access to Castle Black. There was her "dead" Great Aunt Cassiopeia and a youth who she didn't recognize at first but apparently it was the new Lord Black.

A very uncomfortable introduction was made by Cassiopeia and the next thing Narcissa knew she was residing in one of the Castle's dungeon awaiting her fate.

Narcissa had never ever spent a night in anything but a very comfortable room. She was used to luxury but now found herself in a cold, dark cell with nothing but a pile of straw for a bed and a (unbelievably as it seemed) a bucket to relieve herself. At least she wasn't chained to a wall. Eventually a tray appeared which contained two rolls, a hunk (not a piece but a hunk) of plain cheese and a small pitcher of plain water and a cup. She demanded that a house elf appear but none came. She just refused to eat. She made the mistake of flinging the food and water across the room. For that rudeness she wouldn't be sent any food or water for the next 24 hours.

She would find out what had happened to Lucius when she next received a tray. On the tray was a picture of his head and one of his body before they had been sent to Draco and Fudge. Naturally she fainted. She also spilled her food and water and would not get any more that day.

However the next day there was a pitcher of water which she greedily gulped down. She was terribly hungry but that was the least of her worries. She didn't fear for her life only her son's. She hadn't been worried when she met the new Lord Black as she knew all about him and just how useless he was and that he was too much of a Gryffindor to truly harm anyone. Besides, Dumbledore wouldn't allow it. He had controlled the boy's life for too long and too completely for him to break character.

However, that was before her "present" arrived. Of course she knew he didn't do it himself and had probably hired someone, like the Goblins BUT it had been done. Her only consolation was that Draco was at Hogwarts. Granted he was under Dumbledore's control but at least he would survive because Dumbledore needed him and would protect him.

But like so many Narcissa was wrong – deadly wrong – as the pawn had broken free and had a lot of revenge to do on behalf of his family starting with the biggest traitors next to Sirius Black. She was also wrong about Dumbledore being able to protect Draco. He might "need him" for his money and proxy votes but he couldn't protect the boy.

Shortly after his talk with Draco, Snape had received a summons from the Dark Lord, one which he had to answer or die. A house elf was summoned to watch over the boy when Snape left first to inform Dumbledore of the summoning and then to attend the meeting of Death Eaters. As always he didn't know if he'd return but then that was Karma.

As he opened the door to leave the obnoxious brat had the nerve to order him to "Tell the Dark Lord what has happened to my Father. Tell him to avenge my Father. He owes it to the Malfoys since my Father was first in his Inner Circle. Make sure he understands that if he doesn't than I will not serve him and will side with anyone who will avenge the Malfoy honor even if it is Dumbledore."

"Are you out of your mind Draco?"

"Of course not. The Dark Lord MUST listen to me as I am now Lord Malfoy and will be Lord Black as soon as I can get to Gringotts to claim the inheritance and put on the Lordship Ring. Father was working on acquiring me the Potter inheritance and now that the $*& *$$ is dead – defeated by me – I can definitely claim it through a Right of Conquest claim. Therefore if old snake face knows what's good for him…."

"Draco you are an idiot. Next you'll be asking me for a full report on the meeting before I give one to Dumbledore."

"Of course I expect a full report…."

But by then Snape had left slamming the door behind him. Draco snarled. He was no fool. He had suspected Snape was really working for Dumbledore and had told him the nonsense to scare him and make him meek and dependent on Dumbledork like that $#&$&* *&# fool Potter had been. But Draco was made of sterner stuff. He was a Malfoy! All he had to do was escape from this room, from Hogwarts, get to Gringotts and then claim all that was rightfully his.

Then he'd show Snape, then Dumbledore and even that upstart Dark Lord who the boss really was. He knew he was young but since he was a Malfoy, he possessed cunning and ruthlessness and would soon defeat his enemies. He wouldn't be surprised if he was ruling Britain before he took his NEWTS. But first he had to escape.

He thought for a moment before calling out "Sappy" who was his personal house elf. Dumbledore had forbidden students brining their own elves as servants to school but Lucius had made arrangements to countermand the spell preventing a non-Hogwarts elf from entering the school. It had been expensive but worth it and that was how Draco got news to Lucius as soon as it happened.

Draco had to call the elf a few times before it arrived. It profusely apologized for being late but the room had extra wards around it and he would have punished himself but Draco snapped out "Stop blubbering. I need to get out of here NOW. Take me home as now that my…Father is dead, I am Lord Malfoy and must reset the wards. Then I have much to do so TAKE ME AWAY NOW!"

The elf obeyed and after a few attempts he did get the boy out of the Infirmary and away from Hogwarts. However, they did not go to Malfoy Manor like Draco commanded because Sappy was not a born and bred Malfoy elf. His family was born and bred Black house elves and their allegiance was first to House Black and always would be unless they were first freed and re-bonded to the Malfoy Family and something like that would never happen as the elf would have made a bid for freedom before it could be done.

So guess where the much abused Sappy took Master Draco to? Yep, into the presence of the new Lord Black at Grimmauld Place. The wards and Dumbledore's Fidelius on Grimmauld Place had fallen before the carnage took place. The wards were changed (in parsel tongue) and a Fidelius for Lord Black placed on it. It differed from Castle Black only in that a house elf could bring in a person at the command of Lord Black. Needless to say certain people had been waiting for him and he was stunned and bound as soon as he arrived. Lord Black would see to him at his leisure.

Although Dumbledore had moved heaven and earth and done several underhanded tricks to get named as Draco's magical guardian, none of it had worked. Narcissa's marriage contract had been ironclad in that on the death of Lucius any underage children would immediately become the wards of the current Lord Black. Lucius had to sign and swear an oath to that effect if he wanted to marry Narcissa and get her very, very generous dowry. It made sense as Lucius and his Father were the only living Malfoys at the time of the marriage and "accidents happened" all of the time especially during a war.

Dumbledore had _**legally**_ failed but was telling everybody (who counted) that he was Draco's guardian as well as the guardian of Narcissa. He was also taking steps for laws to be made circumventing such things in the future and they would be retroactive from whatever time it suited Dumbledore. Sirius and the only other heir – Harry Potter – were dead so who other than Narcissa could challenge Dumbledore and once he had her in his clutches…. Well let's say that in his mind he had already won and nothing could go wrong.

 _ **SURPRISE!**_

Dumbledore was very busy consolidating his power, avoiding scandal, tightly controlling Hogwarts and all who dwelt there like the students from the other two schools. He knew Voldemort was back but not how or where but Snape had finally been called so now maybe he could start his war planning and laying traps for Tom because he knew this time he couldn't afford to prolong the misery like before as he had almost lost.

Oh and he was trying to stay alive and not be assassinated. Several more of his followers had snuffed it. Besides the attack at the Yule Ball, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were gone – horribly and publically so. Ron Weasley was dead and the Twins were very badly burned (as was the Quidditch team), Ginny was hysterical because the bed in her dorm and everything she owned including her new broom, had been burnt to a crisp by fire and the Burrow had been destroyed by fiendfyre. Apparently there was a pyromaniac on the loose.

Arthur and Molly Weasley had been at the hospital when the Burrow was torched but now a place had to be found for them to stay at and with Grimmauld Place lost to them it was either stay with Molly's Aunt Muriel, at the home of one of the other Order members or (shudder, shudder) Hogwarts. They also needed all their worldly possessions replaced.

After much fighting Elphias Doge agreed to take them in. Aunt Muriel had refused because she was afraid of dying and rightly so. She paid for a Fidelius to be cast (and grumbled how much it cost her) but it was better to be safe than sorry. Besides she had had a very bad argument with Molly and wouldn't let her live with her – ever – despite the dire circumstances. She also knew that Dumbledore would be sending people over to hide out or something and it would end up costing Muriel more than just money, such as her life and sanity before Dumbledore was through.

The next to go were Kingsley Shacklebolt and Emmeline Vance. "Persons unknown" were the cause of these two Aurors dying in the line of duty especially considering they were not on duty but snooping around for Dumbledore. Mundungus Fletcher had just missed death and was now in hiding. Not for the first time did Dumbledore regret not marking his Order members so that they couldn't hide from him.

Both Muggle and Magical Britain were on alert as there were strange deaths happening all over and the ones in the Muggle World (where Sirius Black and Lupin had been found) were threatening to overlap into the Magical World due to the unusual circumstances.

It was only drug dealers and suppliers who were killed (and not replaced) and the general public was actually glad as they were nothing but disgusting scum, destroyers of lives and murderers anyway. However the tabloids were stirring things up making even honest people fearful. It was how they were being killed that was disturbing.

With the exception of Sirius Black and Remus Lupin who had been killed and horribly mutilated, the dealers/suppliers were just…dead. A simple shot to a vital organ or a slit throat had killed them although a few were said to have suffered from…a heart attack…or something similar. It almost sounded like an Avada Kedavra had been used or at the very least a heart stopping curse. All money and drugs were taken and just the bodies remained. Someone was getting very, very rich both in money and products.

At first it had just been in London but now it had spread to other main cities. Drug users were suffering because they needed their fixes and couldn't find the product anywhere. Some died from want, but others were forced to seek help to wean themselves off of their habits. Others who had just started using were saved from sinking into a life of hell. The very rich still managed to acquire their drugs but by the end of January, Britain was nearly drug free except for hospitals and special clinics.

To quote one Muggle government official giving an interview on a political talk show, "It is as if someone waved a…magic wand…and just summoned all of the crack, meth, pot and other things away from the dealers, sellers and buyers. It is a blessing really."

It was…except that the official had been accidentally correct. Someone was indeed "waving a magic wand" and doing other things to summon drugs. Someone had cast new and powerful magic which found and "liberated" any drugs entering the country by whatever ingenious means it was being smuggled in. Someone had taken all of the money from the buying/selling of drugs and nothing had been seen of it. Except for the home made stuff like meth and crack which were created in "mom and pop" businesses or in industrial scale labs and thus didn't need to be smuggled in. These resulted in the most noticeable deaths as the labs were just blown to bits and everything and everybody in them destroyed.

To those in the know at Scotland Yard and the Muggle Government this meant one thing… Wizards were involved and that was not a good thing because wizards NEVER did anything to help Muggles, or at least British wizards didn't.

The Muggle police, government and military were filled with Muggleborn wizards/witches who due to their "blood" could not get anything but the meanest of jobs in Magical Britain. Most left that world upon graduation from Hogwarts and those with brains and determination had either been keeping up with their Muggle studies during their summer holidays or struggled to do so until they could take the proper tests and gain the necessary accreditation.

People like Justin Finch-Fletchley, Sally-Anne Perks and even Dean Thomas did, although especially in the case of Dean, they didn't tell anyone. They had either read the writing on the wall or been tipped off by other sources. It was good to have magic and be a wizard/witch but if you wanted to succeed in the real world you had to plan for the actual life you would have after graduation. "Special people" were snapped up by the Muggle government (again in the greatest of secrecy) and were very sought after by the police and military service because of their special talents.

The problem facing Scotland Yard was who was getting rid of the scum but keeping the money and most of the product. Some hospitals and clinics were receiving anonymous "gifts" of morphine for medicinal purposes but the rest was gone. The first "robberies" had started at the end of August very slowly at first. However, things picked up and by November it had been noticed. By the time of Sirius' Black's death London was 90% free and at the end of January most of England and Wales. Inroads were being made in Scotland and Ireland and it was estimated that if things kept up as they were by Easter the four countries which made up the British Isles would be drug free or at least dealer and supplier free.

It was good to get those drugs off the street but the MONEY and who was getting it was the big question. Even at the best of times it was nearly impossible to know how much money was being made in drugs and this was no exception. Also, if the product was taken out of Britain and being sold to other countries…the amount of money would be staggering. WHO WAS GETTING ALL OF THIS MONEY?

Serpens Regulus Lord Black or "Snake" for short, that's who. You see although the Black Family was immensely wealthy and had money all over the world, much of it was in trust for Lord Serpens and his heirs and the only mistake Lord Arcturus had made was in trusting the Goblins, relying on the honor of the Goblin Nation and Ragnok, Head of Gringotts Britain. There were just too many very dishonorable and bribable Goblins who prevented Lord Serpens from taking control over any money residing in a Gringotts vault in any Gringotts in the world.

This was due to the schemes and machinations of not only Lucius Malfoy but Albus Dumbledore. In just this one thing they had been partners of a sort in preventing the transfer of money out of Britain without having the money subjected to huge transfer fees. For Dumbledore it prevented Death Eaters from fleeing the country taking their wealth with them. For the Ministry, certain persons received "a cut" for allowing and enforcing certain laws to be enacted and for Lucius Malfoy, letting certain inheritances, like the Black legacy, get out of the country and out of his possible future control.

And the Goblins – oy vey…the Goblins. Between the subtle bribes and huge amounts of money being made in transfer fees…well let's just say that in the last 15 or so years the amount of British Goblins who became millionaires had quadrupled and it was all perfectly legal.

In other words if the Ministry/Dumbledore couldn't have access to certain vaults/inheritances than NO ONE, ESPECIALLY NOT THE HEIR, COULD. Lucius was just trying to steal as many inheritances for himself and Draco as possible and since he had a deal with certain Goblins he could even sneak more money out of Britain if necessary. But Lord Arcturus had found out too late that he couldn't use the threat of moving his wealth to other sources such as Muggle banks or to the Dwarfs (the Goblins' biggest competitors) without losing most of it "according to the law" and were it not for his habit of keeping huge amounts of gold and other Muggle currencies on hand at Castle Black, he wouldn't have had any money to invest overseas or carry out the necessary schemes for the safety of his heirs.

One of the reasons Cassiopeia had lost all her money was because she was using her funds to purchase Muggle properties. Since the money was staying in Britain she wasn't charged transfer fees just the very high currency exchange fees. She also bought jewelry and furniture with galleons and sold them in the Muggle World. It was long and tedious but she managed to save 75-80% of her wealth (after exchange and real estate fees) and could say she was broke when she died because she had had less than G1,000 left and the remainder of her funds in Muggle money.

The only way Snake could claim his main wealth was if he presented himself to Gringotts, filled out the necessary paperwork for Gringotts and the Ministry and several other necessary legal things but by then all of the Goblins who were being bribed to tip off the Ministry, Lucius and others trying to "get" Lord Black and most especially Dumbledore. He wouldn't have made it out "alive" or "safe" as someone would have gotten to him because that just how things had been arranged. He would have been trapped even if he attempted to go to another Gringotts, say the Paris Branch, to claim his inheritance.

Nope, he had lost much or at least until certain people were dead. All of them. There was money in Muggle banks and Dwarf banks all over the world but he was in Britain and needed to stay there until his goals had been met. He also needed to help out a few people for when the war started because yes indeed there was going to be a war.

People like Neville, Luna and others who hadn't stayed for the Yule Ball had not gone home either. Nope because their lives and/or health were in danger. Neville could and probably would be used by Dumbles as he had been using Harry. No doubt Augusta Longbottom would hear the good news that _'Harry Potter was just a decoy and not the real prophesized savior but Neville was and Dumbledore was appointing himself Neville's guardian so he could protect him better"_ or some such nonsense.

Arrangements had been made to take them to a place of safety and settle them in while their relatives thought they were staying for the Tournament festivities. By the time they were missed they would be safe and free from Dumbledore's manipulations and/or their classmates' abuse. Once the war started – namely, Voldemort's resurrection happened – Snake was planning on sending all Muggleborn students out of the country. In fact, Cassiopeia had purchased an old Muggle boarding school in Denmark, which Snake was paying to be renovated and warded by the Dwarfs because he would be starting a new school of Magic. Granted it was a very un-Black-like thing to do but eventually even a "Mudblood" could become pure after a few generations of intermarrying and they would be out of Britain leaving Hogwarts "for the worthy" so why not?

So Snake needed to earn some money the old-fashioned way – he stole it. That was how many old and noble families in both worlds earned it so why not him? He would also be doing "good" because only the low-life, scum of the earth, perverted %#($*(#*&#**# would "suffer" and the less of them there were the better.

Snake didn't do the killing. Many times the dealers were offed by the suppliers when they couldn't come up with the money. That was when Cassiopeia had mentioned that house elves were quite capable of killing.

"I thought they are forbidden from killing wizards" Snake had asked.

"Yes and no" was the reply. "They aren't supposed to kill the wizards/witches of their family BUT they can and gladly will kill to protect a member of their wizard family. Dobby was quite prepared to kill Lucius if he had harmed you more than he did. Dobby wasn't his elf anymore and the fact that Dobby truly hated Lucius…well if you had said 'Dobby kill' Lucius would have been killed but you didn't and Dumbledore probably would have killed Dobby when you weren't looking."

"Besides the filth you are robbing are _MUGGLES_ and since wizards think Muggles are lower life forms to begin with well all of the Black elves will gladly rid the world of that foul scum."

So the 17 house elves of the House of Black "did a lot of fundraising" for several good causes and if it was necessary (and in many cases it was) to annihilate these criminals from the face of the earth, it was done and at times with enthusiasm. Meanwhile while Snake was cured of the abuses he had suffered, he and Cassiopeia with the help of Regulus and Arcturus, searched for interesting spells and found the ones that detected the presence of certain things like cocaine or heroin being snuck in and then the elves confiscated it. What wasn't sent to hospitals or clinics was destroyed as it was evil. Well some was saved for "an emergency" meaning to use as a trap, bribery, etc. but most of it went up in smoke.

Most of the money "acquired" went towards the building, warding and furnishing of the school and then the hiring of "qualified" teachers would start with Cassiopeia interviewing the candidates that the Dwarfs were also recommending. Cassiopeia had attended Hogwarts when it was still one of the best schools of Magic in Europe and knew what to look for and what courses should be offered.

When she was a girl there were many classes offered that were of no real value to getting a job at the Ministry which was THE only thing to strive for in some peoples' mind (can you say Molly Weasley). There were others for personal enrichment, such as music, dancing, deportment, law, healing, ancient rituals, etc. which Dumbledore – in his "wisdom" - had purged from the school because they were unnecessary and money needed to be saved as he said "There was never enough of it" as too many children were on the charity list."

That was what he told people but in reality many people didn't have the magical power to perform the magic of music and dance and Dumbledore just happened to be one of them. Other magics such as ancient rituals, he declared "Dark" and "Evil" and cited that certain things Grindelwald had learned and practiced had caused him to turn into the worst Dark Lord of all time – until Voldemort. Dumbledore was only saving Magical Britain from such things by outlawing them and not allowing them to be taught at "his school" for the "sake of the dear children" and many people believed him.

Actually he did away with most courses so that no one would ever come close let alone surpass his record of having the most OWLS and NEWTS (like a young Tom Riddle had done). If he could he would have done away with other prime courses but even he was outvoted.

The core courses which Hogwarts HAD to TEACH were: Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, Astronomy, Runes, Arithmancy, Dueling/Defense, Magical Creatures and some form of History. Care of Magical Creatures had been substituted and Dumbledore arranged for it to not go into great depth and Astronomy had always been optional as unless you were going into a certain career which needed more tuition, one could learn all that was absolutely necessary in a one year course. Instead Dumbledore had made it mandatory for five years and dragged out its (very outdated) teaching.

The self-proclaimed "Champion of Muggleborns" completely did away with the mandatory and very vital two year course of Introduction to the Magical World, Customs, Laws and Etiquette and replaced it with Muggle Studies, which was decades behind in the progress of Muggles. He rounded it out with the controversial Divination. It was the opinion of many that Binns should be "retired" and the former History course should be brought back – the one that centered on the history of the entire Magical World and how it coincided with the Muggle World and not just Britain and Goblin rebellions like the rest of the Magical World used.

But "Snake" and Cassiopeia were determined to bring back a "real magical education" and not Dumbledore's idea of what was right and proper, light or dark, good or evil. Cassiopeia had mentioned that one of the reasons the Dark Lord had started his rebellion was to bring back the former education available to all British students as well as several other things which Harry, Hermione and probably the Weasleys didn't know about or, in the latter's case, wouldn't admit to.

Snake was going to let Voldie and Dumbles fight it out and may the best wizard win. Since Harry Potter was dead and Neville was missing Dumbles had to come up with a new idea to run his war – the one that no one "officially knew about" since only certain people knew that "the V-man was back! Snake and Auntie Cass would just watch the fun from the safety of their new school.


End file.
